My husband, myself and two friends will be arriving in Palm Cove in May of 2004. Can anyone give me information on what to see and do in a short period of time as we will only be there 2 weeks, and want to see and experience the trip of a lifetime. Also, are there any good tourist sightseeing books you could recommend. Thanks

Do you mean to say you are spending the entire 2-weeks in Palm Cove (Barrier Reef) area? Or are you spending a few days in PC and balance of time in and around other areas of Australia?

Australia has such diverse areas to visit and experience. To spend 2-wks only in PC area, I can probably fill 4-5 days, but unless I enjoyed diving and being in the water for 2-weeks - that's a long way to travel for "a beach" area.

There are lots of good guidebooks on Australia, just check your local bookstore. There are different books depending on what individuals are looking for.

The main sightseeing attractions in that area are the Great Barrier reef and the rainforest. For the reef, I highly recommend Daintree Air's day trip to Lizard island (http://www.daintreeair.com.au/) and for the rainforest, I recommend Trek North's Cape Tribulation day tour (http://www.treknorth.com.au/cape-tribulation-tour.htm). Try to get on a tour with Craig if you can - a great guy who knows his stuff and really cares about the rainforest.

Thanks Sandi and Steve for your replies. I will check out the recommended web sites. We will be staying in Palm Cove the entire 2 weeks and there are divers in our group. We will be taking day trips here and there, but the beach is so appealing. Thanks again.

Make sure you check out the surf club for great value food and drinks.

And simply enjoy Palm Cove one of the most beautiful places I have ever been lucky enough to visit.

Muck

There's a lot more than reef or rainforest accessible from Palm Cove - hardly ever hear of Atherton Tablelands on these postings - have a look at www.athertontableland.com - incredible scenic contrasts between rainforest and savannah country. Amazing birdlife, platypus and all sorts of native creatures. You can either drive yourself or take day tours. Undara Lava tubes are fascinating although a bit too far for a day trip - they have excellent overnight accommodation in refurbished train carriages. Mareeba Wetlands on Tableland is only a little over an hour's drive from Palm Cove. British naturalist David Bellamy has just visited and he's raving about it. Just north of Palm Cove is miles of glorious beach - Ellis Beach - there's hardly anyone ever on it.

I agree with Pat -- make sure your get yourself a four-wheel drive vehicle and explore a bit of the inland area too. You'll find that Palm Cove is really only one main street next to a beach with a few tiny shops so you'll need to keep yourselves busy elsewhere. If you like golf, stay at the Novotel.